Kiev progressed from a Champions League group which included winners Chelsea, Porto (3rd) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (4th). Rebrov’s side went unbeaten at the Olympic Stadium but only won one of those three games, the 1-0 victory over Maccabi which clinched qualification. Kiev’s biggest issue is the lack of competitive games due to the long winter break in Ukraine and they have been restricted to playing friendlies since 9 December.
Manchester City finished top of Group D despite losing twice to runners up Juventus. They won the other four fixtures against Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach in what was the most difficult of the qualifying groups. On the domestic front, City’s challenge for the Premier League crown has suffered from successive defeats at home to title rivals Leicester and Tottenham. The 5-1 defeat at Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday is best overlooked as Manuel Pellegrini rested 8 first team regulars in readiness for the trip to Ukraine.
Kiev will be missing the edge that comes with competitive action and this could allow Manchester City to return to winning ways.
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